The present invention relates generally to electronic commerce. More specifically, but not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to systems and methods for conducting wireless payment transactions when a wireless network is unavailable.
Cell coverage is not ubiquitous and cannot be guaranteed to be available in all locations. However, some types of mobile device payment systems may connect to services over cellular or other wireless networks to authorize and settle transactions with merchants. Thus, the unavailability of a cellular or wireless network can result in a failure to complete the financial transaction. A mobile device user cannot always accurately predict whether a wireless network will be available when the user is choosing to patronize a particular merchant.
Accordingly, there may be a need to provide an out-of-network option to allow mobile device users to use their mobile devices as payment devices even when a wireless network is unavailable.